School Bans Yoga Pants, Students Rebel, Refuse to Hide Curves

Yet another school has banned yoga pants! Administrators at St. Joseph High School in Barrhaven, Ottawa say yoga pants are too tight and revealing, which is in violation of the school’s dress code and are sending students home to change, or handing out suspensions to those who don’t comply.

The following statement was issued by the school’s admin as a warning:

“Please remind your students that appropriate clothing is required. For our ladies, if they are wearing ‘Lulu Lemon’ pants or ‘jeggins’ of sorts, a long shirt covering them is required, otherwise they will be sent home and asked to change . . .”

Is this a silly overreaction? A parent of a St. Joseph student thinks so.

“This is just as ridiculous as the school that recently banned certain types of balls because a parent got hit in the head with one. If you say it out loud – it really does sound silly – ‘my daughter’s high school banned yoga pants,’” wrote [Kathie] Cloutier.

“As far as I’m concerned, if the schools keep pushing these ridiculous rules – all you will succeed in doing is pushing our childrens’ interest in school right out the door!”

We’ve seen this happen a few times in recent months. While yoga pants aren’t the most fashionable (we’re looking at you Vancouver) they sure are freaking comfy! We understand the part about distractions, and Pythagorean knows our teen brain was swimming with extracurricular thoughts in geometry class, but there’s something about the yoga pants ban that has us wondering if this doesn’t send a message that there’s something wrong with the female form. No skin is being shown, but you have to hide your curves, ladies. Perhaps it’s us, but it just doesn’t sit well. Though, admittedly, we were probably too modest to go around with our behind uncovered anyway.

Do most adults wear yoga pants to work? No, with some exceptions. High school prepares kids for life as an adult in the workplace. Teaching the importance of showing up, being on time, organization, following direction, getting your work and projects done on time, having to deal with people you don’t like, etc. How you dress for school is also a precursor to adulthood. I always remind my daughter and son this. High school is practice for the real world, would you wear that to work? On a side note, our high school here has no rule about yoga pants, but I’m okay with that, it’s up to the admin.

high school =/= work and more so college prepares you more for a “professional job” yet in college you can show up in your pajamas and no one gives a flying fuck

when i went to high school my school flipped shit over skulls ….really? SKULLS all these stupid bans are just stupid they care more about abolishing clothing they disagree with and taking soda out than they do TEACHING CHILDREN, it is not the schools job to regular diet or what you wear it is there job to make sure you know Math Science English and History, which this country is steadily falling behind on. All i have seen is the generations getting dumber every year i wonder why? because so much of our schools resources go to fucking yoga pants, skulls, soda, skirts, and other stupid shit

School, in general, is about obtaining an education. The point of receiving an education, whether high school or college, is to prepare for life, because it is not all peaches and cream. First off, nothing is “abolished.” They ask you to dress appropriately for 8 hrs of the day. The reason they do this is to prevent distractions, because when distracted, learning is unlikely to happen. And what “resources” are really being consumed in sending a letter stating to dress appropriately? Get off your high horse. And teachers can only teach CHILDREN when they are willing to learn.

Distracting for whom? The adults? Of course an adult wouldn’t want to see teenage girls in sexy outfits, they know they aren’t allowed to even look so they don’t want teenage boys to have anything to look at either.

The minimal distraction you get from Yoga pants is insignificant in the whole of things. If a sexy girl is making it impossible for to to learn then you weren’t committed enough to your studies to begin with.

No. So wrong. Any school is a place to focus on LEARNING and obtaining and education. This is why before big exams I stay up very late studying, striving to do my best, working my butt off. If the next day I’m exhausted because I want to keep my straight A’s I’m going to be comfortable and dress “unprofessionally” in yoga pants, leggings, or sweats. My learning is more important than my appearance, I will be comfortable.

I am one to NOT agree with this ban. I don’t think you should be told what to wear, people dress the way they do as a form of art- to express themselves. Why are you against it? Because its too revealing? Damn people it 2011 … You could wear a paper bag to school and makes would still find a way to “get distracted”! And people who say “they’re not propped attire for school, they’re trying to prepare you for the work place”. It’s not the work place! They’re teenagers.. Not adults leave them alone! … You can’t tell me you’ve never gone to school in sweat pants or something that wasn’t “professional looking”. Some girls wear them for confidence booster… Some girls don’t fit properly into jeans AND teachers at that school wear them!I think they’re comfy as shit and totally against this ban. And that being said, they should be more focused on education/ bullying.

@BlissfulGirl — Workplaces also, like, pay you to go there. High school students are going there for free, often starting at 7:30 a.m. or earlier (my high school day started at 7:25). They deserve to dress comfortably if they want. It is also worth noting that many workplaces (not just a few “exceptions”) do allow casual clothes. It’s a general principle in the work world that the level of “professional” dress required is roughly tied to salary. Executives might be expected to wear suits, but they’re paid enough to make buying a special work wardrobe feasible. Not so for students.

It is blatantly sexist to suggest that male students’ “distraction” is girls’ fault for failing to cover up their bodies enough. Teenagers will always have raging hormones, but it’s up to guys to behave respectfully and direct their eyes at the teacher instead of at girls’ butts. Blaming young women for men’s behavior problems is an old & shameful tradition. Five or six decades ago, girls would have been forbidden to wear *any* pants to school, on much the same grounds — distracting, reveals their shape.

I can understand why the school is doing this, but aren’t there some other problems that are a little more pertinent in the scheme of things? I am in high school right now and my school is proposing this ban which I really don’t understand considering that my school has major drug and alcohol abuse problems. Our schools should be focusing on the fact that our teachers are inadequate, our kids are not graduating at high rates, and there are major drug and alcohol problems going on, people just refuse to open their eyes to it.
Also, if a school is to ban yoga pants, wouldn’t they also have to ban skinny jeans and tight fitting shirts? Many of the girls at my school wear skirts that barely cover their butts or shirts that reveal way more than necessary. I think schools need to prioritize before they make a decision.

-blissful girl. Ok well I go to high school and I wear yoga pants and skinny jeans it is not to fucking prepare you! I go to school and work a job as a housekeeper on the side try my fucking job and then go to high school in pain stop being fucking stupid and get your head outta your dam ass it’s a school not the fucking white house. Its not revealing their pants and my school is banning them and if they make me get new pants I hope they like looking at my striped thong cuz I won’t wear fucking pants then

My school just banned yoga pants this morning where around half the girls in my school were wearing them when they announced it over the PA. Really next thing you now they’ll ban jeggings and skinny jeans and no one will be ably to wear anything but baggy sweats. Plus what about the boys whose pants hang down to their knees? Girls get in trouble for covering up and boys can let their boxers show. Unfair? I think so!

I don’t think the ban on Yoga pants is necessary. Going to school is not the same as going to the workplace. Yes in the workplace they can tell you what to wear. You are getting payed in a workplace giving you a reason to actually follow this dress code. And how are yoga pants too revealing? They show no actual skin. Some girls work to have bodies that they deem attractive and just wish to have some gain for it. Yoga pants are not at all the problem. If you people really need something to blame that badly then just blame hormones. These are TEENAGERS. Sex hormone crazed teenagers. Not everyone has their 1st sexual experience in high school but you can’t honestly tell me you never considered it.

Give me a f*ing break. Girls will always have butts and they’re not going away. Yoga pants are the same pants that have been around since Grease in the 60s. They’ve been around for 50 years and now they’re a problem?! This is why Europe and Japan are beating us. They don’t see everything as overly sexual because they don’t make noise about it and its normal to them. They tackle real issues and leave us to﻿ drown in our own stupidity over yoga pants dress code. God Americans really need lives.

I wear a uniform to school. It sucks. I would really like a day where we can wear whatever. I mean we have dress down days but we can only wear jeans. It’s not like we can wear yoga pants or sweats. Not even during exams!! it sucks and this school is stupid for banning yoga pants.

I fully support a ban. I’m in college and I am SICK AND TIRED of 90% of the girls at school feeling it necessary to expose their butt cheeks and vaginas to the entire campus. Yes, many of the girls who wear yoga pants hike them up so high that you can see their butts and vaginas outlined VERY clearly. The only thing left to the imagination is if the carpet matches the drapes.

Now, I’m a feminist. I believe in a woman’s right to wear whatever the hell she wants.

That said, it’s kind of hard to feel sympathy for a rape victim when she tries her hardest to reveal as much of her body as possible.

As an actual stranger rape survivor, let me just tell you – you sound like an immature, self-centered cunt. Please take your, “I’m a feminist, but I totally blame women for getting raped because I’m a judgmental little bitch” attitude and shove it up your ass.

You aren’t special, you could get raped someday too – and I hope when it happens you aren’t dressed “slutty” cause according to your logic, then you deserved it. At least if it happens to you then you might pull your head out of your ass and understand what a pathetic, judgmental bitch you are being and how stupid and narcissistic you sound.

I have a really hard time understanding what kind of a feminist would, especially in a public forum, actually claim that a woman is responsible for being raped simply because of what she wears. This kind of viewpoint really saddens me and I really encourage you to reflect on what your words mean. This classic blame the victim mentality is offensive, unproductive, completely inaccurate and extremely detrimental to the millions of rape victims out there, not to mention all the inevitable future ones. In addition to all of the perpetrators who might feel justified in their actions if the world continues to propegate the idea that women “ask for it” by how they dress.

Please, please rethink your words and opinions on this matter. Ask yourself what it means to call yourself a feminist and if these sorts of ideas fit into this framework.

Children in my opionion don’t get to make their own damn decisions. You go to school, you do what your told, and you shut your mouth. At a highschoolers age, you aren’t entitled to a god damn thing, you live under your parents roof, and you haven’t experienced enough to make any decisions. The problem with kids today is just that, you think someone owes you something. I agree with the ban, because guess what folks, the school makes the rules, not the parents, and damn sure not the kids. If you have issues with authority, then your kid will get kicked out, and no body is really going to lose sleep over it. So parents, a little advice, if you can’t agree with the school, you need to grow the hell up, and once you figure out how to be an adult yourself, then you teach your kids the same thing. Highschool is about learning, not about teaching a work environment, but on the other hand, all aspects of child hood should implement some form of discipline. Little girls don’t need to be running around with their asses hanging out of yoga pants for god knows who to see. Curves or not, keep it all to yourself until your of age. There is a time and a place, and in my opinion and many others, an age to do everything in life. Some of you adults who are against the ban, you need to grow up, and stop trying to live through your children. It’s not cute to let your daughter walk around looking like a, for the lack of a better word, slut. Teach your kids some dignity, and respect for theirselves, so when they get a little older, they CAN make their own decent decisions.